Poem

Moth

by Claire Marie Stancek

mouthe, mowth, mowthe, moth, moighte.

A destroyer, a parasite, a maggot, a worm. A nocturnal insect that attacks fabrics. A person who lives at the expense of another. A parasite. A pair. Appear. A sight. A person who hovers and is liable to be drawn as a moth to a flame. Something that eats away, wastes, something that eats. An open or gaping mouth as expressive of wonderment, shock, or vacancy of mind. A person who speaks on behalf of another. A prostitute. The surface opening of a pit, cave, well, ditch. The entrance to Hell. The external opening of a wound, sore.

To rot, decay. To become moth-eaten. To eat. To pronounce, speak; to give utterance to. To insult or abuse. To articulate silently. To form on the lips without voicing.

About Claire Marie Stancek

Claire Marie Stancek holds a MA in creative writing from the University of California, Berkeley, where she is also a PhD candidate in the English Department. She teaches classes on nineteenth-century literature and creative writing. Her most recent poems are forthcoming in the Berkeley Poetry Review and Typo.